This course is designed to help learners sell their products, goods and services to Chinese consumers. To achieve this goal, the course will use evidence-based research in psychology, economics, legal studies and marketing to help learners understand the historical, economic and legal contexts of doing business in China and the behavioral characteristics of Chinese consumers. The course will cover topics in Chinese and global marketing, Chinese consumers, institutional and cultural influence on consumer motivation and behaviors in Chinese markets, and brand management in China.

From the lesson

Materialism and Conspicuous Consumption

Chinese consumers are found to be more materialistic in a cross-national survey conducted by the I.C.E lab at CUHK. Unlike Western consumers, the rising levels of materialism for Chinese consumers are not driven by low self-esteem. This lecture explains how lay elitism and social mobility affect Chinese consumption characteristics such as materialism, conspicuous consumption and acceptance of culturally mixed products.